


Into The Ocean

by Toxic_Ships



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Bad Pasts, Fluff, Gay Keith, Lance's family - Freeform, Langst, M/M, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Other, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Past Sexual Abuse, bi lance, klangst, lance is undercover, maybe smut, mermaid lance, soft bois
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 04:51:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15405375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxic_Ships/pseuds/Toxic_Ships
Summary: Everyone has there secrets. Keeping them is difficult, sometimes your mind just can’t stand the pressure. But for Lance, it’s not the pressure that will destroy his secrets, it’s the water.





	1. Chapter 1: Tell Me Your Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> So all of you who have seen the show H2O (just add water) will see my many references.  
> WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS MENTIONS OF PAST ABUSE AND (one mention of) RAPE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t like the beach. I never had. I didn’t like the way the sand stuck to my body, or the way the water burned. I didn’t like the way that my thirst quenched when I was in the water, I hated all of it.
> 
> And guess where I was at this exact moment?
> 
> The fucking beach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm...I'm in the mood for some mystical Lance, angst, and fluff, yes? Pardon my French, thank you <3

           *Keith’s POV*

I didn’t like the beach. I never had. I didn’t like the way the sand stuck to my body, or the way the water burned. I didn’t like the way that my thirst quenched when I was in the water, I hated all of it.

And guess where I was at this exact moment?

The fucking beach. I was sitting under an umbrella that I had surprisingly remembered to bring! I hated the way the sun made me look more pale (I didn't know I could get any more pale!)

I don't remember exactly why I had decided to come here to be honest. I remember getting out of class and hearing a bunch of people talking about a party, they were always having some stupid high school party. But why would I care? I was Keith, Keith the boring definitely-not-party-animal!

But I could change that! 

Okay now that you've heard that let me tell you why I'm really here (This time it isn't for the snack table, I promise) I'm here for Lance McClain.

Yeah, I know. Having a crush on the person you're meanest to is a bad idea, but honestly I'm bad at emotions, I always have been. But...he was gonna be shirtless, I had to come.

And boy was I glad I showed up. Because holy hot...Lance looked good in a bathing suit, though my eyes were more on his abs than on his bathing suit.

There was one major problem though...I had been caught staring. Yeah I'd been caught by one of Lance's friends before, they had always given a wink to me and burst into laughter, rightfully so, it way funny that I was dreaming of being with a funny, popular, hot person when I was none of those. But never had I gotten caught by Lance, not until now.

"See somethin' you like, Keith?" Lance laughed, walking over to the spot where I was laying.

"Fuck off, McClain, the only thing I'm looking at that I like is the waves." I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms childishly.

Lance chuckled, leaning into my ear, "I've seen you stare before, Keith, but never have your eyes wander as far as they have today. Should I take my shirt off more often?" He whispered, you could hear the amusement in his voice.

My face flashed more red than it ever has, I kid you not. I was at a loss of words. I forgot how to talk, or make any noises for that matter. It was just wide eyes and red face, more red than the jacket I was wearing.

"I-um-ha-what?" I stuttered, talking like a confused child, which just so you know I am not.

Lance chuckled, his breath warm against my neck, making me shiver with the desperation I so often pushed away.

"Don't be afraid, Keith, my bites don't hurt much, they can if you want though." Lance smirked, his finger nail trailing itself along my neck.

"Shit, Lance...stop." I whispered, the regret flooding through my brain. Damn it I just told him to stop.

"Jesus, Keith. You're no fun, what do you even do for fun?" Lance scoffed, crossing his arms.

"Well I sure as hell don't sleep around like you do!" I yelled, immediately regretting saying that, "Fuck, I'm sorry Lance, I didn't mean that." 

"It's fine..." Lance said bitterly as he turned away, "I guess I'll just go find someone to fuck, that's what I do, right?" He whispered, walking away.

"Lance, wait!" I yelled after him, but he was long gone already, "I fuck up everything..." I mumbled, laying my head back and falling asleep.

*A couple hours later*

"Ugh..." I groaned, sitting up and rubbing my head, "I drank too much." I laughed, listening to the waves hitting softly against the shore.

It was dark outside, the only light I could see was the moon...and some strange blue light in the ocean and a pained scream, "What the fuck..." I mumbled listening to the muffled scream as I stood up walking towards the water.

"Hello?" I asked quietly, taking off my jacket and discarding it away from the water, I'd go get it later.

"Go away!" A panicked voice sobbed.

"Hey, is that you Lance?" I asked, softening my voice a bit, "I'm so sorry about earlier, I just you aren't ever anywhere to be seen at night time." I sighed.

"Apology accepted, can you leave now?" He muttered.

"Lance just tell me what happened, or what's wrong, I heard you screaming..." I whispered, walking towards the glowing in the water.

Something brushed against my leg, and from the bit of light I could see it had scales. I screamed louder than I ever have, my screams being muffled by two hands covering my mouth, holding me against them.

"Shh..." Lance hushed me, "It's me, I..." He paused and I could feel his hip shift, a long blue tail lifting itself from the water in front of me. It was beautiful, blue with silvery designs.

"Wow..." I gasped quietly, feeling him flinch as I ran my hand over his tail.

"Can I trust that you won't tell anyone?" Lance asked hesitantly.

"If I can trust you aren't secretly a demon in form of a mermaid." I laughed quietly.

"Well then...this can be our secret."


	2. Chapter 2:Drunk On Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You best be getting ready for tonight, then." Mama sighed, threading a brush through her long brown hair.
> 
> "Is there an occasion?" I asked.
> 
> "My goodness, Lance! Tonight we have the guests coming over. You are on display tonight, Darling, remember that pretty girl Coral is coming over tonight! All the young girls will be here, believe me they'd kill for a piece of you." She chuckled, sitting down in front of her vanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, you guys. I got some alerts and I can't believe that this got any hits, wow thanks! You guys must really love Mermaid Lance, so here take Prince Mermaid Lance! Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated ^-^

                                                                                                                               *Lance's POV*

 "Mama, please!" I huffed, crossing my arms and letting the water hold me as I pouted.

 "Lance, we've been over this, you simply cannot tell people!" My mother sighed, lifting her hands to the sides of her head, rubbing in circles, making it obvious I was giving her a headache, or maybe I was the headache!

 "B-but if you wipe his memory..." I whispered, turning away from my mama, who was currently admiring the tiara that was unusually not seated upon her head. I sent her a small death glare as I waved my tail through the water, watching the way bubbles formed at the sudden movements in the water.

 "Do you plan on finishing your sentence, Lance?" She asked impatiently.

 "No Ma'am..." I mumbled quietly.

 "You best be getting ready for tonight, then." Mama sighed, threading a brush through her long brown hair.

 "Is there an occasion?" I asked.

 "My goodness, Lance! Tonight we have the guests coming over. You are on display tonight, Darling, remember that pretty girl Coral is coming over tonight! All the young girls will be here, believe me they'd kill for a piece of you." She chuckled, sitting down in front of her vanity.

 "Coral is one creative name for a fucking mermaid." I scoffed.

 "Language Lance!" She gasped, giving me that stern gaze that would make the most stubborn man bow down, even if she wasn't a queen.

 "Sorry..." I mumbled, "And anyways I have my eyes on someone at the moment."

 "Oh, well to get your attention she must be lovely, your head is so high in the clouds sometimes." She said as I began to leave her room, "And Lance?" 

 "Yes?" I asked.

 "You know I love you. I know I can be hard on you, but I promise it's to protect you, telling someone you think you can trust doesn't always end well, I would know." Mama smiled, "Now go, get ready, if you don't love those girls at least give them more reasons to love you!" She winked, and I smiled heading to my room.

 "Amelia? Can you help me with this?" I asked, I was currently struggling to put on some weird necklace-y thing. It was a gorgeous thin chain, beaded with sapphires and diamonds. It went at my waist down past my crotch, uncomfortable placing to be honest, but the shiny look of it complimented my tail, it was honestly quite beautiful.

  Mermen were to always wear jewelry, especially when you were a single, teenage, male. Jewels were seen as signs of wealth and power, and I was always thrilled with it. When you lived in the world of humans and mermaids you could appreciate the small differences. If I was decked out in jewelry at school I would get bullied to death, but here I could wear it and be looked up to, stared at in awe. I loved it.

 The plus side of being son of the king and queen, I guess I could just say prince, with my pickiness I was seen as more of a princess though, but anyway the plus side is I have a maid! Her name is Amelia and she is kind beyond normal. She is the perfect maid, I think we could have a total prince marries maid thing if I didn't have my eyes on Keith. 

"Oh, of course!" Amelia smiled, rushing to my side to help. The works she could do with clothing was insane. She could make me look good in a trash bag, as a child she tried to once, but that's when we were both young and her mother was my maid.

 She knelt at my side, securing the piece of jewelry so that it was tight but didn't hurt, or at least not that bad.

"So, I'm assuming you need some more jewels of this type?" Amelia smiled, and she didn't even need me to answer, she stood up and pushed my chin up with her hand, turning my face at all angles, "Oh! I got it, Lance I'm going to make every mermaid and merman fall for you so hard." She smirked, it was nice to have her around, she was the one person in the underwater world that I had came out as bi to.

 "They've all already fallen for me!" I laughed, watching as she rolled her light green eyes. Sometimes when we were little I would take a marker and trace her freckles, her bright orange freckles that matched her fiery orange hair, those freckles stood clear against her insanely pale skin.

 "Oh I'm sure they have, Lance." She laughed, going through some of the drawers on the vanity I sat at. The vanity was white with many drawers, all of with had baby blue handles. Atop the desktop part was a huge mirror, the frame of which had a variation of jewels that made anyone's reflection look even more beautiful than it already was.

 "Hold still, please." She instructed, and began placing beautiful jewels around my eyes, gasping in awe as she commented that I looked amazing with the sequins. She took some glitter bottles and put some of the super fine glitter on my cheekbone that had hairspray to make sure they stuck on.

 "How does this work underwater?" I asked confused.

 "I don't really know, I just know that you look great like this." She laughed, fastening a choker on my neck, and I had to give it to her, she knew how to make way too many crystals, sequins, jewels, and glitter look somehow organized, it was an amazing skill to have!

"I think I'm ready." I smiled brightly.

"Good, because you're late." Amelia chuckled, pushing me out the door.

 As I swam down the long hall that led to the ballroom I felt myself panic a bit. I didn't want to be seen as a prize to be won, I suddenly wished that I had done more with Keith, I wished he'd given me a hickey so I could be seen as taken. I inhaled deeply, straightening my posture and securing the crown that I had placed on my head before we had all left. My mother, all of my siblings, and me. I was side by side with my mother and my two oldest sisters (Melody and Harmony, I know it's adorable) Us three were the oldest of all Mama's kids, which as a mermaid and a queen she had to have quite a few. But there was one difference between Melody, Harmony, and me from the rest of our siblings. Us three has a different father, we had all figured it out, but Mama refused to tell us anything. But us three were the only ones who could go both in water as mermaids and on lands as humans. 

"Earth to Lance! Hey, what's got you so distracted?" Melody asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Could it be a girl?" Harmony asked, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

"Actually, Harmony it is. And I am not looking forward to other girls trying to steal me from her." I said, the small hint of a smile in my voice, referring to Keith as a girl made me uncontrollably happy, quite strange actually.

"Hmm. Well, we should meet this girl sometime." Melody giggled, putting a questionable emphasis on the word 'girl'. Melody always had a way of seeing straight through my lies, and sometimes it majorly pissed me off.

"Maybe. She is kinda shy..." I huffed, slapping my tail against her back in a warning gesture. 

"Okay, now look pretty, my children." Mama said, giving me the side eye, ugh I always looked pretty, "Now we go!"

Mama smiled widely, pushing open the two doors that led to the large ballroom. And boy had it been fixed up, the dance floor glowed with blue and purple lights, the round tables were covered in gorgeous white tablecloths with wine glasses and china plates, banners hung between the pillars that attached to the dome shaped roof. A long, dark brown, rectangular table took up the space of one wall, cheeses of all sorts, dips, drinks, all foods imaginable and all drinks imaginable were sat along the table. It was perfect. 

As we entered the room the attention of all of probably 3,000 guests turned to watch us enter, the chatter that filled the room cut as the loud music turned to some strange classic violin music or some shit, I didn't like this new music.

Mama led us to the front of the room, directly in front of the DJ, where the music quieted down, I was grateful for that, I didn't want my hearing to be any worse than it already was, which was already pretty bad.

"Greetings, Friends, from close and from afar we welcome you to our kingdom. If you only came here because you are a party animal and don't know the occasion, allow me to refresh you." Mama began, letting people chuckle at her remark, her voice was clear, happy, and hypnotizing, she could make an entire population stare in awe with a speech she didn't even rehearse. It was brilliant, she paused and spoke in all the right moments, it was perfect, "This event was originally made to be just a fun party, but then I remembered that my three eldest children are nearly at the age to marry, they grow up to fast, I'm sure my fellow mothers can relate." Mama laughed, earning sighs and giggles from many mothers, "So all the girls and boys out there, meet my beloved children." She nodded for us to step forward, just Melody, Harmony, and I stepped to her side, putting on our doll faces, empty smiles and eyes full of wonder. "First, my daughters, Melody and Harmony, my gorgeous twins." You could hear the pride in her voice as she introduces my sisters, "I'll let Melody take the floor first."

 "Hello everyone, my name is Melody McClain, I'm eighteen years old and I enjoy the company of the kindest boys out there. As a-" Melody paused, shooting a smile back at Mama, but behind that smile was a unknown bitterness, "As a...um-senior at the Academy For Ocean Men and Women I hope to go to college and major in studies of the mind." She smiled, lies, lies, lies. Melody walked back with our younger siblings who were here to stand then leave after the three eldest siblings introduced themselves. As the youngest of the oldest I was last to speak, but I didn't really listen to Harmony, I just laughed mindlessly at the jokes she cracked. Then It was my turn...

"Hi everybody, My name is Lance McClain." I shot a look like Melody's at Mama, then spoke the words Melody failed to speak, "I'm seventeen years old. And I'm a half breed. Half human and half mermaid." I whispered, and the moment I said the words Mama's eyes went wide and whispers flew through the audience. Now was time to tell and figure out the truth.


	3. Chapter 3:Pasts Aren't Excuses

                                                                                                                          *Keith's POV*

 Holy shit. I didn't really process what Lance had told me until the morning after all had been said. And when I began to really think about it I was kinda freaking out. Lance McClain was a fucking mermaid, he was a fish. Could he have sex as a mermaid?

 I shuddered at the thought. Oh, that would be painful...

 I walked down the long street of my rented house, admiring the beautiful scenery. There was a small area to the left where I always went when the world became too much. It was a small circled fence with two willow trees that hung grew over a small bench, flowers grew around. This was my spot, no one ever came here. It was hidden behind many trees and bushes. And that's where I was headed, only a few more minutes until I was there...

 "Hey, Kogane!" A voice yelled, laughing in a maniac type of way. I knew that voice too well.

 "What do you want, Alex?" I asked, turning around only to get hit in the face by a football that he had thrown this way. I clutched my eye, that was gonna bruise.

 "Agh." I yelped quietly, my breath hitching as I felt the aggression build up in my chest, "What's your problem, jackass?" I yelled, stomping over to the taller man with my hands balled into fists in a silent threat.

 "Oh, Keith, you're the problem." He laughed, kicking me hard in the shin, causing me to double over and hit the hard concrete, my knees scraping hard enough to draw blood. He kicked me quickly then crouched down next to me, his 'I hate you' look faltered for a moment, turning to some sort of fucked up pity. I wanted his pity less than I wanted really anything, I didn't appreciate the pity at all.

 "Can you just leave me alone? We broke up months ago, there's nothing left of us, Alex." I whispered, forcing myself to make eye contact with him.

 "But...we really had something, Keith. We had something. Where did the sparks go? Where did they go, Keith? Where did they go?" He asked, his voice turning into a yell. I couldn't help but feel bad for just a moment, I never really felt any sparks.

 "Listen, I need you to calm down. We aren't a thing anymore, I'm sorry, but you need to find someone else, I can't do this." I mumbled, pushing myself to my feet.

 "NO! We're still a thing, we still have that connection, WE HAVE A CONNECTION!" He yelled, "You can't do this to me, Keith. You can't do this. No, no, no, don't leave me. Please, Keith don't leave me." Alex begged, standing up and tugging me towards him, his lips pushing close to mine.

 "WHY ARE YOU SO CRAZY?" I yelled, my fists ready to attack if it came to that.

 "Because of my past, because I grew up in a hard place..." He sniffled, and I rolled my eyes like I was bowling with them.

 "I had a horrible past too, but pasts are no excuse." I scoffed.

 "Let me touch you one last time. Please Keith." Alex whispered, his eyes drilling into me, his hands reaching out, staring places that he should not be staring, looking at areas where he did not belong, he should not belong.

 "Get away from me! You're fucking insane." I yelled, running away from him as he fell to the ground, screaming for me to come back. I couldn't do his mood swings, his hate to love. I couldn't take it anymore. I ran to the place, the beautiful willows almost smiling in a welcome, as I sat under the shady bench I couldn't help but shiver in the breeze as I was shielded from the sunlight. It was amazing.

 I was alone with my thoughts. My horrifying thoughts...

 I didn't really know Lance. I knew as much as I could for being an average high school kid who had a crush on a popular kid. Lance was one of the most popular people in school, he had a big group of friends, he was hot and fit, he failed his classes, (though he seemed smart, I had the theory he failed on purpose) he was the image of popularity, guys loved him, girls loved him, non-binary people loved him, everybody loved him! I loved him. But I was kinda jealous. Not because I wanted everyone to love me, but because I didn't want everyone to love him, I wanted him to be mine. Just mine. He was everything that was perfect. From his looks to his voice to his dancing to his...well everything. He wasn't a jerky popular kid, he was sweet. He was absolutely everything I'd ever wanted and more, perfection. Absolute perfection. I wanted him more than I had ever wanted anything. I wanted to touch him, to know him, I wanted him.

 I had been crushing hard on him for a while now, but after I had figured out his, secret shall we call it, I fell hard, deep. It was like a vulnerability, something about him, strong and powerful and popular Lance being vulnerable created somewhat of a bond, or a connection that seemed to fuel me. It made me ache for him, I wanted him now more than ever, I didn't just want, I needed. Ever since my break up with Alex, who was abusive and crazy I had been afraid to commit, afraid to be in a relationship, I feared that I would be hurt beyond mental pain, I still feared that. But I knew that Lance wouldn't hurt me, not on purpose.

Lance didn't need to be human to be kind, and sweet, (and probably hot too) and not abusive. He wasn't fully human, but he also wasn't a monster, I knew that.   


I think I'm falling for him. Shit, I'm in love with a mermaid.

 I had to get my mind off of this, or maybe that's the exact opposite of what I had to do! I wanted to go find Lance, I wanted to see him, and now I knew exactly where to go.

 I began to walk to the only spot I thought he would be.


	4. Chapter 4: Blue Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "No, Mama, listen it's time they know the truth. The humans may hurt us, but they will not." I declared, watching as nods made way across the many mermaids and mermen in the large ballroom, they wouldn't hurt me, or Mel, or Harmony.
> 
> "Very well." Mama sighed, "Yes, this is true. My three eldest children are half-breeds, but only them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmm...should I have some more fluff written?

                                                                                                                              *Lance's POV*

 

 "Haha, oh Lance! My Dearest comedian, he's awfully funny isn't he?" Mama laughed, the stress she so often carried started to flow throughout the water.

 

"No, Mama, listen it's time they know the truth. The humans may hurt us, but they will not." I declared, watching as nods made way across the many mermaids and mermen in the large ballroom, they wouldn't hurt me, or Mel, or Harmony.

 "Very well." Mama sighed, "Yes, this is true. My three eldest children are half-breeds, but only them. The rest of my babies are full mermaid blood, Lance, why don't you tell our people everything." She sent a message to me, it was a sort of telepathy that us mermaids and mermen possessed. 

  _'_ _I'll tell you everything, Lance. Just for now tell them what you know.'_

I sucked in a deep breath, lifting my chin up and staring out into the ballroom full of people, Mama always told me I was born to be a public speaker, I never told her that I was mortified the moment I had to face a crowd this big, but I sure as hell could do it. It was now or never.

 "If you are in my kingdom, or I should say, if my mother is your queen, you may have noticed that most morning meetings don't include the children of our household. Normally Melody, Harmony, and I would be there, but we cannot attend because at that time we are on land. In the world of humans." I announced, giving the audience a moment to gasp and whisper before I continued, "Us three balance living on land and in the sea. We are humans when our skin is dry, but when even a drop of water touches our skin, we turn back to our mermaid forms. We live in both worlds, we could quite possibly be the key to having peace between our worlds."

 The chatter didn't seize as Mama begged for silence, people managed to cough out distressed words while Mama impatiently tried to quiet them, but quieting the people seemed like it would be nearly impossible.

"Silence, please." She huffed, raising her voice to get the attention of each and every person in the ballroom, "Yes, I know this may come as quite the shock, it may be hard to understand and for us it's hard to understand too, there are many qualities of my children that we haven't uncovered yet. But I hope that we can all stick together through this, and if anyone has children who are half breeds as mine are you can come talk to me, we're in this together." Mama made the most amazing speeches, the entire audience stayed silent, nodding in a silent agreement, a couple people became teary eyed for reasons I doubt anyone would say.

 "Excuse me, may I ask a question?" A woman in the audience asked, a knowing smile on her face, my attention snapped over to her. She had long black hair and pretty green eyes that complimented her purple and black tail.

 "Of course." Mama smiled gently, the same suspicion was in her tone as was in my mind.

 "Does being both a human and a mermaid give them any abilities?" She asked, but her tone showed that she knew that answer.

  I gulped nervously, wondering if I was see through or if she was just smart.

 "We haven't discovered any abilities yet, but my children are just now venturing into adulthood, so there is a chance that we still have not discovered some...changes that a normal mermaid wouldn't have." She explained, or should I say lied, that was a lie...

 "Now, guys come on!" I laughed, "Shouldn't we let the dance begin already, I'm aching for some more music!" Laughter spread through the audience at my comment, and Mama gave a small nod.

 "Well, Lance is right! Let's get this party started." She smiled, nodding to the DJ to start the music, people scattered around the room after the DJ started playing loud pop type of music, Mama walked over to all my younger siblings who were staring wide-eyed and in awe at Melody, Harmony, and me. She ushered them out of the room, sending them to bed, they were up way past their bed time.

 "Hello Prince Lance." A girl smirked, the strap for her top hanging off her shoulder seductively.

 "Princess Coral, a pleasure to see you." I smiled, taking her hand and placing an empty kiss on it, I wished that a kiss was not the way to show a hello to a princess, but of course it was. I admired her shell bikini top, it was orange with sparkles covering it, the orange was much lighter than her bright orange tail, I had to admit orange did look very good against her dark skin, she looked beautiful, if only her personality was as pretty as her looks.

 "Oh the pleasure is all mine, Lance!" She gushed over me, she looked awfully similar to the heart eye emoji, it was quite shocking actually.

 "Lance! It's been forever." A voice called from behind Coral, I knew immediately who it was, none other than my childhood crush...

 "Allura, it's been far too long." I smiled admiring how gracefully she swam over to me, her light pink tail had the silver lining that was strangely similar to mine.

 "Coral, how great to see you." Allura gave a disgusted look to Coral, who then snarled and swam away from us, I gave Allura a 'thank-you-so-much-I-hate-her' look, "I must say you do know how to steal the spotlight! Everyone in the audience was focused on your sisters until you made that speech, your bravery to go against your mother's wishes was shocking to say the least." She commented, giving me an admiring expression.

 "Allura, please excuse me for being so rude but...is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?" I asked, my tone somewhat impatient, leaving her to chuckle lightly, shaking her head at my comment.

 "Lance, there's a problem..." She began, "I overheard our mother's talking, I believe they are trying to um...get us together, you know what I mean by that. I don't think either of us like each other like that anymore." My whole world seemed to come crashing down on top of me as the room began to spin.

 "I-Allura I have to go." I whispered, feeling the tears pooling in my eyes. I rushed out of the room as fast as I could, ignoring Allura's calls for me to come back, I wasn't gonna come back, not ever, I was never gonna face Mama, or  Allura, or Mel, or anyone! Fuck them all, I hate them all, I never wanted to see them again

 I swam out of the room, past the bedrooms, through the hall, past the kitchen, and out the front doors of the castle, which were currently open for any guests to enter. I swam past every restaurant and store that there was, letting my tears mix with the salt of the water, my gills burned as I picked up my speed. I moved closer to the shore, until I saw my favorite spot. It was near shore, probably four feet high, but I had dug a crater in the sand, I always sat in the crater, I'd cry here, or smile, or basically do anything. But right now I just sat, sobbing and staring at the moon and the stars through the water, up into the air. 

 It was dangerous to be right here, my tail was too long to be completely in the water, so it stuck out slightly, making me shiver in the cool night air compared to the warmth that the water always held. I sat still until I felt something brush against my tail, causing me to flinch and let out a strained scream from under the water. I quickly scrambled out of the hole and popped my head out from under the water.

 "Lance." Someone said from behind me, I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.

 "You aren't supposed to see me like this..." I whimpered, shivering as I felt a hand rub circles in my back as I held back a sob.

 "See you like what, Lance?" Keith asked, walking in front of me, giving a look as if he genuinely had no clue what was so different about me.

 "Covered in jewels and glitter. Sobbing. Weak. I'm not supposed to be like this, I'm supposed to be strong and...not like this!" I sobbed,avoiding Keith's gaze, doing everything in my power to not look into his eyes, his pretty purple eyes. Oh I would both live and die for those eyes. I felt long fingers grip my cheeks, tilting my head up to meet the eyes that I so adored. His gaze was strong yet gentle, it was honestly unexplainable.

 "Look at me, Lance." He whispered, waiting for me to shiver and make eye-contact with him, "For one, the jewels and the glitter are hot, like really, very hot. And two, Lance you can't be strong all the time, we all have our weak moments, there's nothing wrong with that, if there's anyone who you can be weak around, I want that to be me, okay?" I couldn't respond, I just tensed up for a moment, staring into his eyes. His hand moved up to cup my face as I sobbed, his gaze softening into something sweet and simple, "Okay, Lance?" He repeated, holding my hand with his free hand.

 "Okay..." I whispered, sniffling quietly, shivering as a hand made its way from my cheek to my hair, he ran his fingers through my hair, I buried my head into his shoulder, I took in the scent of his plain black shirt, silently admiring the way the wet material stuck to his fit frame. 

 I hiccuped loudly, crying harder, "Mama is trying to make me get married! I don't-Keith, I don't-I..." My tears flowed faster, and my body fell into his arms like a rag doll getting dropped to the floor like I bored child would discard me, would Keith be bored and discard me? "I want you, Keith, I want you, I want you, I want you..." I repeated over and over.

 "Shhh...hush Lance..." Keith whispered, his lips brushing against my ear as he rubbed comforting circles in my back, "You can have me." He hushed, the way his fingers brushed against my spine as he spoke in the gentlest way made me shiver from more than just the cold.

 I could only remember the words, 'You're so beautiful' before I fell asleep peacefully in the arms of my world.


	5. Chapter 5: Only Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Because the sun is coming up and you can't be here like this." I said in a know it all voice, earning an eye roll from Lance, "Are you going to school?" I asked, watching Lance's shoulders slump at that question.
> 
> "I don't have much of a choice, I either go to school or go back into the water and risk Mama finding me." Lance grumbled, his eyes widening after the words left his mouth. His mom finding him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmm thanks for all the hits, Lovlies. Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. <3

  It was like the world had dissolved around us, from the way his lips parted slightly and his breath calmed as he slept in my arms to the way the moon reflected on the blue water. I wasn't going to sleep, not tonight. Tonight I was going to just watch, watch the water, watch his chest rise and fall. Everything was gonna be okay, today was going to be good. But the longer we sat, the brighter the sky began to become. Shit. What were we gonna do when morning came and we were sitting here where the world's eyes would be on us. I didn't want to leave Lance, but it was way too dangerous for him to stay here, I knew I'd have to wake him.

  "Lance? Lance, wake up..." I whispered, watching as his eyes crinkled up from being startled by me, I assume. I sighed softly, I didn't want to wake him, I had to. Surely that's understandable, right?

  "What time is it?" He mumbled, shaking his head that was currently on my lap, he blinked his eyes open and stared directly into my face.

  "I don't know." I shrugged, hiding the smile that was begging to be shown, he was somehow both hot and adorable and I couldn't handle it, I wanted to fuck him senseless but I also wanted to squish his cheeks. I didn't know it was possible to want both of those things at the same time...

 "Then why the hell did you wake me up?" Lance huffed, crossing his arms childishly, he quickly uncrossed his arms, reaching up to brush some of my hair out of my face. I don't know why both of us did that so much, we both kinda had a thing for it I guess. 

  "Because the sun is coming up and you can't be here like this." I said in a know it all voice, earning an eye roll from Lance, "Are you going to school?" I asked, watching Lance's shoulders slump at that question.

  "I don't have much of a choice, I either go to school or go back into the water and risk Mama finding me." Lance grumbled, his eyes widening after the words left his mouth. His mom finding him?

  "What do you mean risk her finding you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  "She's just trying to force me to do something I don't want to do, I don't want to talk about it." Lance sighed, staring back up at me, his eyes glistened with a shiny coat of whatever pain he was carrying, whatever pain was being brought onto him.

  "How...um-How do you go back into a human?" I questioned in an uncomfortable tone, fidgeting with my hands and avoiding Lance's eyes, which were currently staring at me curiously, that mischievous glint in his eyes.

  "I kill five mortals." Lance hissed, staring at me like I was prey for a moment before bursting into laughter, "You should've seen the look on your face! I just go onto land and wait to dry, then voila, I'm a human!"

  I shook my head at him, "Then you'd better start air-drying, we gotta go." I rushed him, waiting for him to get up, "Hurry up!"

  "Let's stay here, please?" Lance whined, and I wished I could say yes, but that'd be putting him at risk of being seen, I hated having to be the responsible one, but that's exactly what I was gonna be.

  "Lance, please. We have to go, now..." We didn't have the time, we both knew it. I guess we both had the habit of holding onto the things that we just needed to let go of, I needed to drop that habit, we wanted to stay there forever but we didn't have the time. We would never have enough time.

  "Fine." He huffed, getting up and swimming towards the shore. I just sat there and watched for a moment, I watched the way his body swayed as he swam, I had never really been much of a believer, not in fairies or trolls, and definitely not in mermaids, but now, watching Lance swim it's like I had known forever. The way his stomach and back swayed to get his tail to move was some kind of masterpiece. It was hypnotizing how the silver on his tail shone against the light of the sunrise.

  "Are you coming or not?" Lance called, laughing as he got onto shore.

  "Oh." I chuckled, wading through the water and I began making my way to shore.

  I sat on the cold sand, grimacing at the feeling of sand sticking to wet skin, just another reason to hate the beach. Well, I mean I honestly don't hate the beach very much anymore, I guess I feel like I have some sort of connection to the sand and the water now, maybe it's just because I know when I can't find Lance he'll probably be here. But the more I thought about it, the more I started liking the beach. I mean, the ocean seemed bigger than most of my problems, so that made me feel good I guess. The sand felt good in the warmth of daylight. I didn't have many reasons to like it, well Lance was a reason, but I didn't have many reasons to hate it either. Maybe it could be neutral.

  Lance let out an annoyed sigh, "I'm not drying. It's too cold out here, the sun needs to come up." His face was flushed, from what I could only assume was the heat, but hey what do I know? His seemed to turn to saucers in a matter of seconds, "Shit, um-Wanna help me get to that bathroom over there? I have a locker rented and it has all my school stuff in it." He explained, stretching out his arm to point towards a small bathroom thing, it was lined with small blue lockers, they were stacked on top of one and other and I'd guess there were like thirty, but only like three were in use. I smirked, chuckling gently, but nevertheless I helped him like the nice person I was (not).

  I helped him to his feet, or I guess I helped him to his tail? I helped his flipper? I don't know, I helped him up. He slung his arm around my shoulder, using me to support his weight, it was weird having Lance, who was taller than me, be needing me to support him. I walked at a normal pace, every couple steps Lance would hop forward, me in front, then side by side, it seemed like an eternity that this went on, and I was starting to wish we stayed in the water. Maybe he had some freaky mermaid magic that he could use to get me in the water with him, I honestly know nothing about his powers and/or abilities, if he had any.

  "Okay, I can probably use the wall to help me now..." Lance mumbled, leaning against the wall for support as he dropped his arm from it's place on my shoulder. He managed to get to his locker, which he used the knowledge I knew he had to find the perfect place for it. He clearly took height into the equation of placement, picking the locker in the top corner, so he could lean against the wall and open it, brilliant. He typed in a combination and took out his backpack and a bag filled with jeans and a t-shirt, along with a pair of Vans, socks, boxers, a towel, and his phone.

  "Here, you take my backpack and I'll go into the bathroom, dry off, and change." Lance smiled, handing me his backpack as he hopped into the bathroom, stumbling on his way, he was struggling and I kinda wanted to help, but I decided to let him be stubborn and anyway, he could manage by himself, he did it everyday.

  I held the backpack, staring at it thoughtfully. I hated that I was as nosy as I am, I hated how I had to resist the urge to open it and look through his things, I inhaled deeply, pushing the thoughts away from me, this was his personal stuff I was not gonna look through it! A blue light poured through the door frame of the outside of the bathroom, I gasped softly at the bright blue light, it was honestly quite gorgeous, bright and beautiful. I heard a slight grumble from in the bathroom followed by a 'The light is kinda over dramatic'.

  Lance walked out of the bathroom a couple minutes later, dressed in the blue top, jeans, and Vans that he had in the bag earlier. He offered me a small smile as he yawned gently, I should've been the one yawning...

  "We have school, Keith, and you're soaked so get your cute ass moving." He smirked, sauntering ahead of me, and laughing as I rolled my eyes yet again.

  "Lance, I hate to ruin your party but my house is that way!" I stated, pointing across the street, and snickering as he turned around on his heel, "So follow me, okay?" I laughed, walking towards the road. School sucked, but if I finally got to spend the day with the boy I'd been crushing on maybe it wouldn't be so horrible.


	6. Chapter 6: Wide Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Get dressed, I have a surprise for you.” I smiled, walking behind him and shutting the fridge door, watching his shoulders slump, but nevertheless he straightened his posture and walked over towards what I could only assume was his bedroom. I leaned against the wall, my eyes fixed on the door, and I wished more than anything to just sneak a small peak into his room, but I wasn’t gonna be a creep, not today!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was in the mood for Harry Potter XD  
> If you're a Drarry shipper who likes angst, go check out my Drarry oneshots :P

                                                                                                                 *Lance's POV*

   

  “So this is where you live, huh?” I asked, that was the most stupid thing I could’ve said, there was a million better things I could have said, but no I was gonna ask something I knew the answer to because I was just that brilliant.

  “Yeah, I know it’s not much but I mean, for one high school student it’s enough…” Keith smiled, walking around the island in the center of the kitchen as he opened the fridge. He gave a small sigh as his eyes scanned the fridge from top to bottom, then bottom to top. I felt bad, I had noticed him getting thinner, he had always been a bit of a stick, but recently his rib cage had stuck out clearly when his shirt was too tight.

  “Get dressed, I have a surprise for you.” I smiled, walking behind him and shutting the fridge door, watching his shoulders slump, but nevertheless he straightened his posture and walked over towards what I could only assume was his bedroom. I leaned against the wall, my eyes fixed on the door, and I wished more than anything to just sneak a small peak into his room, but I wasn’t gonna be a creep, not today!

  I fixed my eyes on a clock that was on the wall, I watched the broken clock hand tick back and forth, it ticked in the same place. It didn’t move, it was stuck, it stayed still. Kind of like my life, I mean sometimes I felt like I was moving forward, I was moving forward, but then something happened and I was pulled back, and this repeated itself, over and over and over. My life was on a continuous loop, the same thing happened every day, and the only good changes were crushed beneath the foot of my Mama. The tail of her actually.

  “Ignore the broken clock, I’m fixing it soon…” Keith mumbled, and I couldn’t help but smile, he was so quiet, he was amazing at doing that, making himself unheard. I gave the clock a final glance before turning to face him. He had changed into blue jeans and a black shirt, but his usual red jacket was missing.

  “I kind of like it…” I smiled, pressing my index finger against his, and interlocking them, watching as his eyes widened slightly and he tensed, he inhaled a shaky breath and making himself calm his posture. He leaned his head against my shoulder, eyes fluttering close for a moment.

  “Did you get any sleep last night?” I asked, running my fingers through his black hair, and smiling at the surprising softness, I didn’t expect his hair to be soft, honestly I expected the opposite.

  “Um-yes…” He mumbled, and I couldn’t help but snicker, he was a horrible liar, at least when he was tired. He kept dozing off while leaning against me, I didn’t mind though, he needed at least a small bit of sleep, I doubted he got sleep on a regular basis though…

  “Okay then, Honey.” I laughed, “Let’s go then, I’m taking you somewhere…” My smile grew wider when he lifted his head off of my shoulder as he nodded slowly, I doubted he was processing anything that was going on, he was too tired for that, why wasn’t he sleeping when I was sleeping?

  We walked down the hall, hand in hand, I stared at the front door, watching the sun light poor in through the windowed door. I smiled, I had always loved the way sunlight looked when coming in through a window, it looked like something straight out of a fairytale, my life seems like it is kind of a fairytale in all honesty. Correction: My life is kind of fairytail (See what I did there).

  “Lance, where are we going?” He asked, grabbing his back pack from the floor by the front door, our fingers still intertwined as I gave him a small smile, watching his every move, and don’t call me a creep, I am not a creep.

  “Well, if I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” I chuckled, watching his face turn to a pout as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. He pulled out a key from the pocket of his jeans. He paused and stared into space for a moment, his expression was blank, he definitely didn’t sleep last night, or probably the past couple nights for that matter.

  “Keith? Hellooo?” I waved my hand in front of his face, squeezing his hand trying to get his attention. He tensed up, wide eyes snapping to me, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine…let’s go.” He muttered, heading out the front door, and locking the front door behind us. He let me lead the way, giving my hand a small squeeze every once and a while. My heart ached at the way he shivered even under the heat of the sun. I guess when your wardrobe consisted purely of the same clothing always with a jacket you develop a need for the heat the jacket gives.

  I smiled widely, as the restaurant I planned on taking him to came into view. It was a coffee shop that not many people came to, some hole in the wall place. But the coffee there was amazing and the food was great. I knew that Keith needed a coffee, he’d pass out in class otherwise and he’d be exhausted all day, which I didn’t want that.

  “No, Lance. I left my wallet, let’s just go to school…” Keith pouted, his eyes fixed on mine, the bags under them showed the clear lack of sleep. I sighed, refusing to break the eye contact that we held.

  “Yeah, and you’re not paying.” I smiled, continuing to walk to the building in front of us, carefully pulling Keith along with me, he was too exhausted to keep arguing, we both knew that. He followed closely behind me, hands shaking gently.

  The bell chimed softly as we walked through the front door, a small smile playing on my lips as I took in the environment of the small building. A marbled counter stood near the door, croissants, breads, muffins, macaroons, and many other snacks were displayed in the glass at the center of the counter.

  “Hey, how can I help you?” A woman said from behind the counter, her lips painted with a dark red lip stick. Her eyes were bright blue, they stood out from behind her dark black eye lashes. Her dark chestnut brown hair was neatly curled, pushed behind her ears to reveal her golden hoop earrings. Faded freckles were poking out behind the foundation that so perfectly matched her skin tone.

  Keith looked around silently, dropping my hand as he spun in a small circle, admiring the environment.

  “Latte?” I whispered in his ear quietly, watching his head move in a small nod, “Two lattes. One with chocolate syrup, please. And two croissants. To go please!” I smiled, watching her hands move to the register as she pressed a few buttons on the touch screen.

  “That would be $6.53.” She smiled, and I handed her a ten dollar bill, giving her a soft smile as I reached for Keith’s hand.

  “Keep the change.” I said, watching her face light up at those words. Her lips curved into a small smile as she gave me a quiet ‘thank you’. I squeezed Keith’s hand and he turned his attention to me, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m exhausted…” He sighed, finally ditching the whole ‘Oh I totally slept’ act. It was hard to lie when you’re about to pass out.

  “I know, that’s why I bought you a coffee.” I smiled, and almost on cue the woman at the counter called out ‘Two lattes!’ and offered a smile in my direction as I strolled up to the counter grabbing the drinks and croissants, returning the smile.

  “Thanks, seriously…I’d pass out right now if it weren’t for your knowledge on great coffee.” Keith laughed, accepting the items that I held out to him.

  “No problem, you’re way too distant when you’re tired. And you look like you haven’t had something to eat in a while, sooo…yeah.” I smiled, “Anyway, we have school so we’d better eat on the go.” I suggested.

  He gave a curt nod, and we left the coffee shop, hand in hand.

 


	7. Chapter 7: Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I took another sip of the latte I held, trying to walk and not spill it while holding it with one hand, my other hand was occupied with the more important matter here: Lance. I steered us a little bit towards the road so I could reach the trash can to discard the bag my croissant came in. I shot the occasional glance at Lance’s perfect face, we walked in silence, and the entire walk I was pondering whether it’d be more weird if I spoke or if I didn’t speak. I ended up weakly deciding to lean against him, smiling at my decreased exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: MENTIONS OF PAST RAPE AND ABUSE  
> Okie I wanna write some smut for this. Would anyone read if I added smut?

  I took another sip of the latte I held, trying to walk and not spill it while holding it with one hand, my other hand was occupied with the more important matter here: Lance. I steered us a little bit towards the road so I could reach the trash can to discard the bag my croissant came in. I shot the occasional glance at Lance’s perfect face, we walked in silence, and the entire walk I was pondering whether it’d be more weird if I spoke or if I didn’t speak. I ended up weakly deciding to lean against him, smiling at my decreased exhaustion.

  “Hey…” Lance whispered, running hid long fingers through my hair, holy shit I love in when he does that. I nuzzled my head into his shoulder, humming in a soft tone at the contact. How had so much happened in the past few days? It all felt like a dream, like I was caught in a haze.

  “Hello.” I replied, taking in a deep breath as Lance moved his palm to cup my cheek, he peppered kisses up and down my jawline, giving delighted chuckles when I shivered, I whimpered softly while I crossed my arms and looked away from Lance.

  “Keith…Can-“ He paused for a moment, “Do you think I can stay with you…I mean, at your house?” Lance mumbled, looking down at the floor, he looked afraid, did he think I would say no?

  “Are you kidding?” I snorted, bursting into laughter, Lance’s face twisted in confusion at my fit of laughter, “Lance, I would pay you to stay at my house…” I smiled, letting my voice and expression soften as Lance exhaled in relief, as he scowled at me.

  “You scared me…” He pouted, crossing his arms childishly.

  “Okay, I’ll make it up to you.” I smiled, planting a small kiss on his lips, “I’ll make it up to you later, we need to go to class.” I watched his expression go from smirking back to pouting, and I gave him a small kiss on the cheek as we walked nearer to the school.

  “Fine. But if we don’t hurry I swear I’ll fuck you on a bench.” Lance growled, leaning in, his lips dangerously close to the skin of my neck, as he pulled back away from me, the lack of warmth from his breath made me shiver despite the sunlight beating against my pale skin. Lance strolled by me calmly as if nothing had just happened, this idiot was driving me crazy with lust.

  The school building seemed to fall into our vision far too soon, I wanted to walk next to him forever, I didn’t want to worry about school work or teachers or being in public. I let my eyes dance over every bit of sun kissed skin that Lance dared to show. I wanted to see him in a tank top, holy shit that would be hot. He could make a prison suit look hot. He could make a fucking speedo look unnecessarily hot, he could make anything fucking hot. He was annoyingly perfect.

  “So…are we-are you going with your friends?” I mumbled, preparing for Lance to tell me that I was just a distraction and a place to crash, that he would go with his friends and pretend nothing happened between us, maybe nothing actually happened, maybe I’m just a horny teenager blinded by lust.

 “Hell to the no, today everyone’s is gonna know that you’re mine.” He hissed in my ear, and I gave another helpless shiver as I leaned into his arms, smiling at our height difference, some part of me liked being the smaller one. He wrapped his arms around me, “You know now you can’t fool around with anyone else.”

  “Only you, Lance, I promise.” I smiled, gulping down the last bit of my latte, and he led me inside, I decided to play the innocent act as much as possible. I cowered behind Lance, watching the way a pinkness spread across his cheeks from me being so submissive. His eyes lowered to meet mine, which stared at him intently.

  “If you don’t stop this act, I will fucking break you.” Lance growled, his voice low and demanding, making me shiver, I wanted to keep prying to piss him off just to see what he would do, but I decided I wouldn’t pry to hard, I wouldn’t drop my act though, I liked this game, the want where I pretended to be innocent, judging by the way Lance reacted to my words I think he liked it too.

  “Sorry…” I whimpered, fixing my eyes on the paved sidewalk, a small sigh fell from Lance’s pretty lips as he squeezed my hand, tugging on me ever so slightly to keep me walking. We edged closer and closer to the door as the minutes passed, the door I walked through effortlessly every day didn’t seem so harmless anymore. Once we went through that door the many eyes that always wandered around Lance’s tall and skinny figure wouldn’t just be on him, they’d be on me. They’d be on us, the thought of an ‘us’ sent excited chills down my spine.

  “You ready to live out my daily life with me?” Lance grinned, his smile growing as I straightened my posture and lifted my chin.

  “Courage or fear?” I asked softly, standing on my toes so I could scrape my teeth against Lance’s jaw, I silently wondered how long I could get away with this before he let me know who was the boss here, some part of me was curious to see how he would react, another part of me was fearful.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Lance hummed, running long fingers through my hair, if he kept doing that I’d probably break, just as he promised.

  “Just choose, which do you want?” I whimpered, falling flat on my feet as I stared up at Lance.

  “Mmm…confident.” He responded, then leaned in to whisper in my ear, “Until you say something too confident, then you better be shy.”

  “What? Do you expect me to beg for your forgiveness when I say something wrong?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

  “If you aren’t begging now believe me, you will be later.” Lance chuckled, “C’mon we have to go to class.”

  I don’t think it was humanly possible for my face to get as pink as it did in that moment. Redness coated me, layers of it. The embarrassment was clearly coated against my normally pale cheeks after Lance had said those words. I wasn’t sure why I let him be as dominant as he was being, but some part of me needed a break from always taking control. And Lance being a fucking mermaid meant he had a slim advantage, even though I was convinced I was stronger.

  “Fine, but until later my confidence is staying.” I huffed, walking ahead of Lance and dropping his hand,  heading towards my locker, silently hoping he would follow me. I heard the quiet padding of shoes against the tiled floor from behind me. I smiled, I knew he’d follow.

  “Hello Keith.” A voice said from behind me. Fucking damn it…

  “Alex, if you don’t leave me the fuck alone you best be expecting a slit throat.” I hissed and whipped around to stare at him, dead in the eye.

  “You were always one for violence, Keith.” He smirked, and the dizziness began to come back. The memory of the nights he’d come to my one-story house on Shadow Crest Lane, the nights where his eyes were red with what I could only think to be too many pills, I don’t know what drugs he did the nights he went out. We started out happy, both satisfied with our hunger for hands touching places only each other could touch. Satisfied with the way our tongues knew every part of the others mouth, with the way lips could so easily touch. We shared the bed every night since we met, he said he loved me, I lied and said I did too. I loved the way he moved, the way his face looked when I took the lead. The way he was so submissive that I couldn’t help but aw. But he was only submissive when sober, in a high or drunk state he was completely different. He was demanding and mean and violent, very very violent. The violence started about a month after he moved in, he came back drunk and angry, he threw a beer bottle at my head, he smacked me, he punched me, he kicked me, he cut me with the broken glass, then he kissed me, he touched me, he did it all while I sobbed, begging him to stop it, to stop please. He laughed while I sobbed.

  “You, you-“ I stuttered, at a loss for words, “You were the violent one…”

  “Aw, Keith…I thought we agreed on keeping that a secret.” Alex smiled, that stupid smile. His brown eyes crinkled up a bit when he smiled, his golden tanned hand reached forward, hitting the locker to the left of my head. I stared at his perfectly gelled brown hair, I couldn’t look at his eyes…

  “You are fucked up.” I yelled, ignoring the stares that many other people in the hall gave me as I yelled at him, the anger boiling in me.

  “So you’ve said. But that lie is beside the point, we’re gonna keep everything between us a secret, okay? I’ll be at your house later, I’ll be expecting you.” He winked.

  “Fine, it’s a secret. But you are never coming in my house again.” I whispered, my eyes casting themselves on the floor to the right of my head as my face turned.

  “You better be fucking kiddi-“ He began, his voice in an angry growl.

  “Back the fuck up and leave my boyfriend.” A voice hissed from behind Alex, I smiled softy lifting my head to look at Lance, who stood with his hands balled into fists at his side as he glared at Alex. I watched Alex widen his eyes as he shot glances between Lance and me, then he turned to leave.

  “Hey, are you okay? Who is that jackass?” Lance asked, and the anger that he clearly displayed worried me, I didn’t know how he acted when angry…

  “I-I’m fine…” I whispered quietly, “That’s just an old friend, he was probably bored and wanted drama.” I lied, hoping Lance didn’t see through my ‘old friend’ lie.

  “Good, if he comes near you ever again he’ll be sporting a black eye to match his all black wardrobe.” Lance smiled. I widened my eyes for a minute, but then I laughed and pecked Lance on the lips. Things were better with him…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> QUESTION: Would you read if I added smut?


	8. Chapter 8: Hush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was the worst part of the day. I just had to wait five more minutes. I needed to sit in this stupid chair at this stupid desk in this stupid classroom for five minutes, then I could go to lunch and find Keith and it would be fine. But this felt like the longest five minutes ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh I rewrote this chapter like five times, and guess what, it still sucks. I am moody and I hate everything, so so so so so sorry! (Please give me chocolate ;-;) 
> 
> Also sorry about the late update I'm moving :P

  This was the worst part of the day. I just had to wait five more minutes. I needed to sit in this stupid chair at this stupid desk in this stupid classroom for five minutes, then I could go to lunch and find Keith and it would be fine. But this felt like the longest five minutes ever.

  My eyes were fixed on the clock, watching as the second hand ticked. The way it was quiet when you weren’t watching, but the moment you stared at it, it seemed to get ten times louder. Maybe the noise was me tapping my pencil. Shit, people were glaring at me.

  I tapped my foot as I tried to focus my eyes on the teacher, who was currently talking about plant sex or something, she was blabbering on about, “The plant reproductive cells” and “seeds” and some other shit that I wasn’t listening to. Most days I would have been snickering and making jokes about whether plants enjoyed it as much as we did, but today I was ready to get out of the classroom and see Keith, ugh I was becoming pathetically attached to this stupid mullet boy.

  I was startled from my thoughts when our teacher, Mrs. Cauthen, came up to my desk, waving a hand in front of my face.

  “Mr. McClain, can you please answer my question?” She asked, an eyebrow raised as I rolled my eyes at her.

  “There’s a really cool technique I’d love to tell you about, Mrs. Cauthen” I began, watching her face twist in confusion, she looked like a ten year old who was being given **_“The Talk”_**. “So, in class, when you ask a question, if a student raises their hand, then they know the answer. If they don’t know the answer, then they won’t raise their hand! I know it’s amazing!” I gasped sarcastically, the confusion in Mrs. Cauthen’s eyes stayed for a moment, then her face twisted into a smile and she burst into a fit of laughter.

  “Lance, I should really be sending you to the office for talking back, but your sense of humor is stopping me from getting mad.” She laughed, and the bell sounded loudly, drowning out the clocks ticking, and her laughing, and my classmates whispering, and the thumping of feet against the carpeted flooring.

  “Class dismissed.” She chuckled, walking back to her desk.

   Yes! Finally, I get to see Keith! Screw the ‘No Physical Affection At School’ rule, I’m going to kiss his lips until both of us can’t breathe! I hopped up from my chair, grabbing my bag and rushing out the door, and I pretended I didn’t hear the teacher calling my name as I rushed to lunch.

  “Hey Lance? Nice move in class.” Pidge snickered from behind me. Pidge and Hunk stood side by side, both of the two laughing their asses off. I contained the urge to smack one of them across the face, I just let out a huff and spun around.

  “I’m going to go say hi to-Go eat lunch.” I mumbled, hurrying into the lunch room, it wasn’t a secret that I had a shit ton of friends at school, it was a secret that I only enjoyed hanging out with two of them, three if you include Keith. Pidge and Hunk were always my friends, but they were the only people I felt like I could trust with my newfound popularity, of course that came with them being a part of everything, they knew everything about me. And they could see straight through my shitty lies.

  “Say hi to lunch for us.” Pidge laughed, pulling Hunk away with her, I walked forward ignoring Hunk’s hushed whispers and Pidge’s evil cackling.

  I knew they’d come up to me later and give evil giggles and force the truth out of me, we made a rule ‘No Secrets’, we all had to tell the truth to each other sooner or later. I sauntered through the lunchroom, perfect posture, chin held high, eyes only looking a the people who didn’t watch. It wasn’t like a movie scene, not all eyes were on me as I walked, but a few eyes wandered, but who can blame them for staring?

  A frustrated expression wandered onto my face, where did he go? I scanned the lunchroom from top to bottom, then right to left. And why didn’t it shock me that he was sitting alone in the corner? He was sitting alone at a table, his eyes cast down at the floor, he was biting his lip and staring at nothing, something seemed really off. I approached him slowly, watching as somebody got to him first. That jackass from earlier was talking to him, it didn’t look like anything too serious, Keith was rolling his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest, I balled my hands into fists, I was gonna destroy this idiot.

  I watched Keith’s face closely, and the moment his eyes widened and he backed away, I sprung into action, running towards the table.

  “Hey! What did I say about bothering Keith?” I growled, the man’s eyes narrowed as he rolled them, I wanted more than anything to crack his skull.

  “I’m fine, Lance…” Keith mumbled, looking down at the ground again. I raised an eyebrow as I stared at Keith, I’d never seen him look so…helpless.

  “He said he was fine, idiot.” The guy scoffed. Oh he did not just call me an idiot.

  “Tu hijo de puta!” I yelled, my face went red with the anger I couldn’t seem to control. My fist acted faster than my brain, I waited for the impact of my knuckles against the skin of his face. My eyes were shut tightly, I didn’t want to see what would happen to his face, chances are I couldn’t make him look any worse than he already did, seriously Keith used to be friends with this guy?

  I waited, and waited, and waited, I couldn’t tell whether it had been a second, a minute, or an hour. The only thing I felt was a hand pulling gently on my arm. Shit, was it a teacher? Damn it, getting caught sucks…

  My eyes forced themselves open, though I kind of wished they didn’t, the light was blinding once you adjusted to the dark. I was met with the sight of that one idiotic jackass covering his face, because apparently he didn’t want me to ruin his stupid perfect face or his stupid perfect hair. He was cowering from me, though my fist couldn’t reach him, because there was Keith, his lip pouting as he held back my arm.

  “Lance…” Keith whined, both of his hands were on my bicep, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think that was kinda hot (just kidding it’s not kind of hot, it’s very hot.)

  With a small sigh I managed to relax my arm, letting Keith release his death grip on me, and fuck his hand left an imprint on my skin. Yeah, he had a literal death grip.

  “The bell is gonna ring any minute now…” He stated, crossing his arms with a look that screamed ‘You’re an idiot and you’re never gonna here the end of this.’ Well, is it bad that I agree with the statement his glare was giving?

  “C’mon, let’s get to class.” I mumbled, shooting side eyes at Keith’s ex-friend who was now standing up straight, and lifting his chin high. Ha! He thinks that he is all that, well surprise I’m all that, not him!

  “What were you thinking, Lance?” Keith hissed as soon as we left the cafeteria, the long hallway seemed to be filled with whispers, was it weird that it was actually silent?

  “Sorry, he looked like he was bothering you, and he called me an idiot.” I returned the pout that Keith had previously given me.

  “Well, Lance, I can handle myself, and you’re kind of acting like an idiot.” He replied, bumping his shoulder into mine as we walked side by side, getting the occasional stare.

  “Yeah, I mean, I know that.” I mumbled, then leaned in to whisper in his ear, “But you’re the only one who can call me an idiot, because you don’t mean it to make me mad.”

  I watched as Keith’s expression softened, mission accomplished! He chuckled softly, and fuck that was adorable, but then he just stood for a moment, his eyes scanning my face.

  “You’re impossible.” He laughed, placing a kiss on my cheek, why? Why was he this adorable? “See you after class.” He said, and walked off. And he said I was the impossible one.

  Why? Why was he this impossible?


	9. Chapter 9: Make Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It had been a long day, Alex was making me want to break something, Lance was attempting to create sexual tension (whether he was succeeding or not was another story), and I was exhausted, because that latte was not strong enough for me. And to add to my misery, my teacher was holding me after class, the worst part was, I didn’t know why. The teacher (whose name I was never able to remember) walked towards me, leaning against the desk next to mine, I sat on a plain blue chair, my arms crossed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since when can I add emojis on my laptop?!?! Omigosh this is so cooool  
> Anyway updates will be on a weird schedule cause I'm moving (it sucks) Thanks babes

  It had been a long day, Alex was making me want to break something, Lance was attempting to create sexual tension (whether he was succeeding or not was another story), and I was exhausted, because that latte was not strong enough for me. And to add to my misery, my teacher was holding me after class, the worst part was, I didn’t know why. The teacher (whose name I was never able to remember) walked towards me, leaning against the desk next to mine, I sat on a plain blue chair, my arms crossed

  “Mr. Kogane, look you seem to have a bright future ahead of you, I see the talents you possess. You make amazing grades in your classes, you excel in gym class, and you don’t abuse those privileges.” My body tensed up at the word abuse, why did words have to have multiple meanings?

  “Listen, let’s get to the point, why am I here?” I mumbled, avoiding the teacher’s glances at all costs. I couldn’t meet his eyes…

  “Someone reported to me that a fellow student has been harassing you.” He began. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. Who said that? Who the fuck would say that? There is no way in hell it could’ve been Lance, he wouldn’t do that, would he? I narrowed my eyes, sucking in a breath and standing up. I grabbed my bag, carefully resting one of the two straps on my shoulder, my gaze resting upon the teacher.

  “A background character like me would never be close enough to the center of attention to get hurt, most people are clueless to the fact that I exist, so how would anyone harass me?” I muttered, raising my chin just a bit, watching as the teacher’s face twisted to an expression I couldn’t quite place, somewhere between pity and confusion if I had to guess.

  “You have a bright future, you’re smart enough to handle whatever is going on by yourself, but believe me, share your problems with someone, you may be able to carry this weight on your shoulders, but if you take all the weight eventually you’ll fall.” He said, I hated how monotone his voice was, how his eyes were the only part of him that carried emotion, now the pity was clear, and it was sickening.

  “You feel bad, don’t you.” I growled, watching his expression go blank. His eyes hollow of the emotion he previously held. His posture was tensed, shoulders squared and chin lifted, he looked kind of like a body in an open casket. Empty and wide eyes, the perfect posture.

  “I don’t feel bad for you, I relate to you. You’re mistaking my understanding for pity, those are two very different things.”

  “I should go home now, wouldn’t want to keep my _family_ waiting.” I said bitterly, letting the hiss in my tone be amplified, for once I wished someone would understand what it’s like. What it’s like to not go home to a mother, who’d hold you when someone pushed you to the floor, no dad to play catch with you, no brothers or sisters to argue with. I want someone to know what it’s like to be tossed around in foster care, passed from house to house, beaten till you couldn’t walk.

  Eventually I ran, ran from the foster home I was at, where I was some modern Cinderella, (except I was a gay guy) I was at a house with a couple and their children, a mom, a dad, and two children. Two of their children and me, I wasn’t one of their children I was a servant. The person they yelled at to do the dirty work, the person they beat on nights when they had nothing to do. I was just a toy, someone you could fuck up when you were bored.

  So I ran and worked, and saved, and stole. And I rented a house, and I kept going to school, I lived alone all through middle school, up until high school. Lance is there now, who knows how long Lance will stay? He’ll know my flaws and see my scars and he’ll run, run like I did.

  I shook my head, the gentle movement stirred my blood and my thoughts, both seemed to be one. Blood, thoughts, organs, scars. They all seemed to swirl together as I raced out of the room, it felt impossible to sort out my thoughts. I couldn’t comprehend what my head was saying. It was all a little bit blurry. I ran, and ran, and ran. Out of the school, through the football field, into the neighborhood, past Alex’s house, down the street, to my front door, and I stopped. The shapes of the world around me becoming clearer as I leaned against the door.

  I heard the words, though they sounded like they were being spoken under water, the way his voice sounded so concerned in the simple three words, “Are you okay?” He asked it like he thought the answer could be anything but ‘no’, he knew better than that.

  “Lance, I feel…” I whispered the beginning of a sentence, as I felt my body go limp. My thoughts came to a screeching halt as the blur became blackness, and my eyelids finally gave into the sleep I’d been suppressing for so long now…

       *A few hours later*

  That feeling returned to my throat as I awoke to the light that poured in the window, I felt something damp on my forehead, whether it was water or sweat was a mystery to me.

  “What time is it…?” I mumbled to myself, looking for a watch or a clock or something. I listened to the birds outside, they flew around kids who played and danced while their parents called them inside, begging for the kids to listen. The chirping of the birds was drowned out by a gentle weeping and sniffling, and if the cries weren’t so gentle I would assume it was a kid who fell, but kids aren’t careful cry-ers.

  With a sigh I forced myself to rise to my feet, pushing off the side of the bed I was sitting on. My body swayed uncontrollably as I struggled to walk, I leaned against the wall for support, staring at my closet for a moment, where the fuck was my shirt? My eyes went wide as I looked down to my stomach. I silently hoped Lance didn’t look to closely, he already thinks I’m fucked up, I can’t add to it.

  I grabbed some random shirt off the floor, and surprise it was a black shirt like most of my clothing, and shit I left my jacket at the beach yesterday. Great, great just fucking wonderful. Spectacular. Fabulous. My body wobbled with every step I took, my legs were jelly and my head was throbbing. The front door sat wide open, and the back of someone was sitting on the porch (and my cold air was slipping out the door, but that was beside the fact).

  I realized that the crying was quiet and sort of organized as I stepped closer, my knees becoming weak enough for me to force myself to drop next to Lance, watching him tense up for a second before he relaxed.

  “Lance, what’s wrong?” I asked cautiously, watching as his head snapped to the side, eyes scanning me for a second before he began yelling.

  “What’s wrong?” Lance yelled, his eyes going wide, the water in them threatening to spill, “What’s wrong is…is…” He whispered, closing his eyes as if the words will be hiding on the back of his eyelid. I watched for a moment as his tears begin to spill.

  “Hey, hey, Lance, it’s okay…” I hushed, pulling his head to my chest, where he just cried for a moment, sniffling quietly as I ran my fingers through his hair.

  “It’s not okay.” He yelled, his eyes were red and his face was stained with the tears that he no longer tried to hide from me. The tears that he gave up on pretending weren’t begging to be released from his worn eyes.

  “I know, but let’s pretend it is.” I suggested, and he looked up to me unsurely.

  “After you explain.” Lance ordered.

  I knew this was coming.

 


	10. Chapter 10: Hearts Against Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Keith. Listen to me.” I ordered, watching as those perfect eyes focused on me, staring straight into the blue of my own. The violet-purple and the ocean-blue colliding, crashing at each other like waves. Waves that were clueless and hopeless. “I want to know where those scars are from. Where is the circular one from? Where are the bruises from? Where is the red slashes on your hips from?” I whispered, letting a tear fall from my cheek onto Keith’s hand.
> 
> "Fine, I'll explain." He whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real action comes in next chapter (after the one you're about to read)! *evil laughter*

  “I don’t know what you want me to explain.” Keith said, his voice eerily monotone. The way his eyes flicked to each and every moving object had me mesmerized, he watched each movement of the world as closely as I deemed possible. His eyes were red and the bags under them fit perfectly with the yawn that he was clearly trying to suppress.

  “You know what I’m asking.” I sighed softly, my hands traveled to his lower stomach. The exact place where I’d seen a round scar. It looked kind of like a bite, with ridges that were scattered in a circular pattern. It was red and slightly scabbed, which led me to assume it was recent. Those violet eyes avoided me for a moment, but eventually they focused up on me, the tears flooded his eyes, threatening to spill but trying so hard not to.

  “Don’t be mad, okay?” Keith mumbled, blinking back the tears in his eyes. I couldn’t stop myself from breaking at the gentleness of his voice. The way it sounded like a promise more than it did a question, I let my tears fall down my cheeks, shivering as the warm tears were made cold in the breeze of the night air.

  “I won’t. I promise, I won’t.” I sniffled, feeling a comforting warmth spread across my face. Keith placed his hand on the side of my face, his calloused skin felt unusually good against the softness of my skin (thanks to my perfect skin care routine). I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth against the cold. The fire against the ice.

  “Pretty.” Keith laughed, stroking his thumb along my cheekbone, wiping away one of my tears.

  “Keith.” I replied in a warning tone, “You better not be trying to get out of explaining.” His shoulders slumped as he pouted at me, though his eyes were glazed, and I could see my reflection in them.

  “I just don’t think now is a good time.” He mumbled, the panic was clear in his voice, though he was clearly trying to hide it. I watched as his chest rose and fell, and I carefully matched my breaths to his. It seemed that my breath was the only break I got from the chaos of the world, I was still breathing. On water or in land I was still breathing.

  “Keith. Listen to me.” I ordered, watching as those perfect eyes focused on me, staring straight into the blue of my own. The violet-purple and the ocean-blue colliding, crashing at each other like waves. Waves that were clueless and hopeless. “I want to know where those scars are from. Where is the circular one from? Where are the bruises from? Where is the red slashes on your hips from?” I whispered, letting a tear fall from my cheek onto Keith’s hand.

  "Fine, I'll explain." He whispered.

  “It started when I was five. When my mom left and when my dad died.” Keith began, his eyes still glazed with a wetness that made my heart ache worse than I knew possible, “I was tossed around like a piece of garbage. From house to house, from orphanage to orphanage. I was the foster kid my entire life, my entire life after my mom gave up on me, sometimes the people were nice, but still just couldn’t like me. Sometimes they were a bit rude but not too bad, sometimes they were flat out abusive, and more than just verbally. But something about be was always hate-able. It seemed like everyone didn’t like me. Eventually, they gave up on foster care and left me in the orphanage. Lucky for me I still went to school, I was forced to go, I guess that was the easiest way to get rid of me.” He paused, looking into my eyes, which were now flooded with tears, “Lance?” He asked.

  “Go on, I need to hear it all, please.” I whispered, leaning my head on his shoulder and waiting for him to continue.

  “By the time I reached seventh grade, I was put in a foster home, put with a family of a mom, a dad, and two kids, and me. I was pretty much their servant. I did what they said whenever they said it. I cleaned up after them, and when they were bored or when I did something wrong they would beat me. They’d punch, slap, and kick. They would break me into pieces, beat me until I couldn’t walk. Then if I dared to point it out, they would say I should be thankful that they didn’t kill me. I was just a toy for them to do as they pleased with. Maybe I was more of a doll for them to control.” He hissed, his eyes glazed with hatred to replace the tears that he eventually let spill, “After about three months of broken bones and dried eyes I ran. I ran from that stupid house on Morning Side Drive, I ran until my lungs burned and my face went red. I ran until I fell. I fell in a field, a field by a neighborhood where things were cheap and people were mean.”

  “Keith…” I whispered, watching his breathing becoming uneven, unsteady.

  “Things were cheap, and mothers couldn’t feed their babies, and dad’s joined gangs and got families killed, but it’s okay, right? Because they killed other people to protect their families!” He yelled, getting the attention of the kid’s playing ball in the middle of the road and the mamas who watched them play closely, making sure no one got hurt. “So I live here, and I barely feed myself and I’ve lived here since seventh grade and I can’t afford to live. I can’t pay for my life but death is just as expensive. But, hey. I’m getting life on sale because I’m alive, but I sure as hell ain’t living.” He hissed, letting out a pained laugh.

  “So all the scars are from that?” I asked quietly, just noticing the lack of warmth on my cheek, when did he remove his hand?

  “Oh no, that’s not the end of my fucked up story.” Keith laughed, “Eighth grade was just financial troubles, and lying about ages to get jobs, nothing much different from now. But freshman year rolls around, and high school is fucking stressful. But, during freshman year a little bit of light came into my life, and the person shining that light is named Alex. He was sweet, and caring, and had enough smarts to get both of us A’s. We were best friends the entire year, we did that sleeping with a friend thing pretty much since the night we met, we were just stupid ninth graders trying to see some light at the end of the hall, and then I opened up to him. I told him about my foster homes and my finance troubles and all the things that were ruining my life. And he helped. He payed for somethings and helped me not want to end it all, and after a while we started dating. I was head over heels for the first, maybe four weeks after he decided to live with me. He made me feel safe, something I wasn’t used to feeling. Then one night he came home drunk and high and mad and horny. He broke a chair, threw the leg at my head, he punched me, and he did this night after night, and for those nights the sex just kind of came to an abrupt stop.” He whispered, eyes now fixed on the floor.

  “I don’t want to know about your sex life with another guy.” I growled, the jealousy boiling up in my stomach as I furiously stared at the floor.

  “Fine, then end of story.” Keith hissed, a clear trace of hurt in his eyes as he talked.

  “Sorry, I just…it hurts to know that someone mistreated you, Keith I don’t want anyone to hurt you, ever.” I whispered to him, “But if the whole sex thing is a part of what I should know, include it.” I said, sniffling as a few more tears fell down my cheeks.

  “As I was saying, there was no sex the entire week. Until one day, I believe it was Saturday night, he came home at three in the morning, he woke me up by shoving the sharp end of a safety pin into my arm, then he broke a beer bottle against my head, and make a circle using the sharp end into my stomach.” Keith sighed, pressing his hand against the scar on his stomach. “He pushed me against the wall, he fucked me senseless while I screamed and cried and begged him to stop, and the whole time he laughed, he laughed and dug his pocket knife into my leg, and after that I dumped him, and dropped his stuff off at his house, and I guess that’s where it ends…” His voice was bitter, and the words were harshly spoken, but who could blame him? His life was made a living hell, and he could only watch what was happening around him.

  “I’m so sorry…” I whispered, tears now pouring down my cheeks, even just hearing the words that made up Keith’s life broke me into pieces. Keith’s eyes casted themselves onto me, his beautiful violet eyes scanning my entire body.

  “Don’t be.” He replied, putting two fingers under my chin, his lips colliding with mine. Every previous ounce of pain faded into the kiss, the world seemed to fade around us, it was just us, pressed against each other. Lips against lips, chest against chests, skin against skin, hearts against hearts.


	11. Chapter 11: Gills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Lance, I’m sorry! Don’t you get that I’m sorry…” I whispered to myself, the faintest crack in my voice as I spoke the words to myself. The weekend had finally arrived, and when I woke up on the quiet Saturday morning, the bed was empty. I always thought Lance wouldn’t be an early riser, but I looked through my small house anyway. The surprise was, the entire house was empty, and all of his stuff was still neatly placed on the bed side table. After I realized how weird it was that ALL of Lance’s stuff was there (including his phone) and he wasn’t, I began to panic.
> 
> I stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed my phone off the table, rushing out the door, my stomach turned in a mix of fear, panic, and desperation. As I burst through the door and started down the street, the fact that I had no clue where I was going never really dawned on me, my brain didn’t move, but my feet did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so so so so sorry guys. I can't even begin to apologize, I feel so bad, I was at the hospital. I know it's been forever since I updated, IM SO SO SO SORRY

  “Lance, I’m sorry! Don’t you get that I’m sorry…” I whispered to myself, the faintest crack in my voice as I spoke the words to myself. The weekend had finally arrived, and when I woke up on the quiet Saturday morning, the bed was empty. I always thought Lance wouldn’t be an early riser, but I looked through my small house anyway. The surprise was, the entire house was empty, and all of his stuff was still neatly placed on the bed side table. After I realized how weird it was that ALL of Lance’s stuff was there (including his phone) and he wasn’t, I began to panic.

  I stumbled into the kitchen and grabbed my phone off the table, rushing out the door, my stomach turned in a mix of fear, panic, and desperation. As I burst through the door and started down the street, the fact that I had no clue where I was going never really dawned on me, my brain didn’t move, but my feet did.

  A mother sat on the step of her front door, her baby clinging to her breast as she gently wept, dark bags under her eyes, and a busted lip made for quite the scene. Any other day I’d walk to the woman and comfort her, maybe ask her to tell me what happened. But that day wasn’t today, because today the man who I’d fallen for was missing, and I was gonna find him!

  My pace started to pick up, and as I neared the beach I ended up at a run. The waves violently slamming onto the muddy sand. There was a small ledge between the dew covered grass and the soft, yet grainy sand. My feet moved to fast for me to slow to a stop fast enough, my toes fell over the ledge and my heel dug into the grass. I face planted straight into the powder that coated the entire beach, the powder that was made of billions of hard tiny rocks that should really be painful, but somehow they aren’t, they’re soft and powdery.

  I sat up hesitantly, coughing up the sand that had forced itself between my chapped lips, the stupid rocks stuck to my skin, making it itch violently. I take back everything I said about liking the beach now because of Lance, I still hate it.

  I dug my hands into the sand and pushed myself up to my feet, brushing off my legs for a quick moment, before I raced towards the water. The sand slowed me an incredible amount, my feet sank deep into the sand with each and every step I took towards the water. The sunlight glowed bright, reflecting against the water making it sparkle brightly. I wished I could just stand there and watch the water all day, but I needed to find Lance, and I knew who to call.

  I took out my phone, and went to Snapchat. I scrolled through the names of all the random people from school that I added just out of respect. My lips were raised a bit as I finally found the name I had been looking for.

  8:32 AM Kei _th: I know I don’t know you very well…but I really need a favor please its important_

  _8:37 AM Pidge: Keith? What could you possibly need that’s so important that you message me?_

  _8:37 AM Keith: Pidge something rlly bad happened to lance…_

_8:39 AM Pidge: Did you get him pregnant?_

_8:39 AM Pidge: How did I know this was gonna happen?_

My eyes widened as I stared at that message, and my face heated up uncomfortably. He can’t even get pregnant! That’s stupid. Idiotic. Dumb.

_8:43 AM Keith: No but lance is missing._

_8:43 AM Pidge: Where are you?_

_8:43 AM Keith: The beach_

_8:43 AM Pidge: So you know?_

_8:44 AM Keith: Know what?_

_8:44 AM Pidge: Lance is a fish thing, you know that?_

_8:45 AM Keith: Yeah. I think hes back in the water, but he left all his stuff at my house, and he said yesterday he didnt wanna go back to his home in the water_

_8:46 AM Pidge: I’m on my way._

I sat down in the sand staring out into the water, watching how strongly the waves hit the shore, how the water seemed mad at the sand. It was oddly beautiful, how further out in the sea the water was still yet nearer to the shore the water angrily lapped against the ground.

  “Are you just gonna sit there? Or do you want to go get Lance back?” A voice called from behind me. I already knew who it was, but I still turned around, throwing a small smile in her direction.

  “I can’t go get him, he’s in the water.” I muttered, I thought Pidge was supposed to be some genius or something? It doesn’t take a genius to know I can’t go get him that deep in the water.

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Pidge rolled her eyes, and she held out a cup full of some thick, purple liquid, “This is a mixture that I need you to drink. It will give you five hours under water. You will be able to breathe and function normally, but only for five hours, so you have to come back to shore by then.” She explained, in a matter-of-fact voice.

  I didn’t question it. I needed to go find Lance, I needed to see if he was okay. I had to make sure that no one was hurting him or taking him away from me. Lance was mine, and no one takes what’s mine.

  “Wish me luck.” I whispered, draining the thick liquid down my throat. It tasted of cough syrup, the cherry kind that makes your throat burn. After I swallowed it, I felt a growth on my neck, my hand moved to it and I felt long gills.

  “Good luck…” She said under her breath, and with that I ran forward, diving into the water.


End file.
